Makeup
by Booksong
Summary: A bit of a missing moment from "Warriors of Kyoshi." Suki realizes that there's a lot more to a certain ritual than she thought. Sokka/Suki.


**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, promise.**

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The first thing she noticed was the color.

It almost didn't look like human skin, or at least not the shade she was used to. It could possibly be called tanned, although it went just a shade beyond that.

Bronze. A very…_warm_ color.

_Suki. Snap out of it._

She blinked, focusing instead on the tip of her index finger, which was hovering inches from his cheek. It was coated in white face paint. He had gone almost cross-eyed looking at it, his expression bemused. It would have been funny, if her emotions had not been confusing her so much at the moment.

She took a silent breath, and moved her hand with determination. This was no different than applying the traditional makeup to any new Kyoshi recruit.

Except it was.

She drew the outline of the white down the curve of his right cheek, and then before she could get distracted by the texture of his skin, quickly did the other one. All the while keeping her face set. She could absolutely not let him know that she was feeling anything at all. She wasn't even quite sure _what _she was feeling.

Taking a more generous dollop of the white paint onto her fingers, she began to fill in the rest of his face, trying to work as quickly as possible while still being careful. She tried to keep herself removed and clinical.

It wasn't working. And she was somewhat irritated with herself because of that.

She could feel every small muscle in his face as she worked. His jawbone shifted smoothly beneath her fingers. The skin over his temples twitched a little. He swallowed as her hand skimmed under his chin to apply the very edge of the makeup mask.

Swallowing herself, Suki cleaned her hand with a piece of rag and reached for the bowl that held the reddish pigment that would outline his eyes.

"Hold still," she said aloud, and was proud that at least her voice still sounded steady and commanding. She drew the sweeping curve of red in one smooth stroke. Dipping her finger back in the paint, she was arrested against her will yet again, this time by the color of his eyes.

All her life she had lived on the Island, surrounded by those with dark eyes; brown, black, sometimes even hazel. A few rarities had eyes that were gray, or blue-tinted. But his were _blue_. They had just a shade of gray in them, but mostly they were the color of water, the color of the lake or the sky.

Then his eyes blinked, jolting her back to herself. Again, she furiously directed her mind back to what she'd _thought_ would be a simple task; applying the paint. She snuck a look at his expression as she reached out to do his other eye. At least he didn't look knowing or smug, at least he didn't seem to realize what effect he was having on her. Mostly he looked like he was trying not to sneeze.  
"It tickles. Are you sure I have to do this? You already forced me into this outfit."

"Yes." Suki was glad she knew the firm answer to his question, and it gave her a chance to be fierce again. "You promised to follow_ all_ the traditions. There's no way you can be a Kyoshi Warrior without your face paint."

Suki finished his eye makeup, avoiding looking too directly into his eyes again. With some nervousness, mixed with a touch of embarrassment she tried to suppress, she picked up the deep red paint that would serve as lip color.

She was oddly grateful that he did not seem to read anything into it when she carefully brushed the pigment over his mouth. If she concentrated, she could almost pretend it wasn't a guy she was attending to. There was something in her that wanted this to be over…and something else that, strangely, wanted to prolong it.

Then she took up the black paint, for outlining. Again, she traced the curves and planes of his face, feeling every dip and shift of muscle, skin, and bone. She could never remember being so aware of the intricacies of anything or anyone before.

It was strange, but until this moment, she had never realized what an _intimate_ thing this simple rite of initiation was.

Finally, still with conflicting feelings of relief and disappointment, Suki wiped her hands clean of paint and sat back on her heels. "Done."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally. That was…interesting, though, I guess." He cocked his head at her, and his expression was almost teasing. "You looked like you were concentrating pretty hard there. Putting on makeup must be a big deal, huh?"

Suki glared at him, the little flare of irritation at his last comment the only thing that kept her from blushing. So he _had_ noticed…something. She found herself hoping he was too dense to figure out exactly what. She needed to figure it out herself, first.

"It's kind of…itchy." He raised one hand toward his face, as if he were intending to scratch or rub.

On reflex, Suki's hand shot out and seized his. "Don't touch it! You'll ruin the whole thing!"

He flinched involuntarily at her sudden movement. "Okay, okay! I won't touch it!" he promised.

It was so strange how…_natural_…his face looked under the layer of traditional paint. The strange idea came to her that she could almost get used to seeing him like this.

Suki dropped his hand immediately when she realized she was still holding it.

She had made the decision to let him train with them.

What in Kyoshi's name had she gotten herself into?


End file.
